Brentia
Brentia is the Green Planet in the Colour Paradigm, and is the most influential in the history of the Hecaxian solar system. Brentia has experienced a diverse history over four ages: 1st Age Brentia Brentia in the 1st Age consists of very few nation states, and borders shifted frequently. Consequently, only five named geopolitical constructs existed at the time: The Draconic Conclave, The Canim Empire, Corynthia, the Khalivarian Empire and Sierra. Outside of these five, all other parts of the world were divided by roving tribes, bands, or short-lived kingdoms that attempted to establish themselves. Below are some notable events during the 1st Age. Creation of the Kakari Establishment of Gods Sundering of the Core Conquest of Tiamat The Winter Queen Flight of the Dragons The culmination of the Draconic Civil War, which led to a group of dragons evacuating the planet of Brentia, and flying to Thrull, to re-establish a colony there. 2nd Age Brentia The Steppe The Corruption of Khali As a Goddess, Khali does not, in fact, pre-date Khalivar. She was born mortal, in Lyrricania, far outside of the empire. Khali was born an Elf by the name of Kafral Goldheart, while Khalivar as a nation was already some 1000 years old, settling its border with non-magical military might. Born among a small inner-city community of relatively peaceful, artistic elves who had in the past (well before she was born) been driven from their forest homeland by civil war, and gravitated to the foreign city because of its artistic culture. Their community had mixed feelings and relations to the rest of the city; they loved the arts and had integrated themselves into the community there, but were frustrated at the lack of focus on faith as opposed to self-improvement and felt that many inhabitants of the city were too selfish and focused on their personal development, rather than the community as a whole. In turn, many people in the city, while respecting them, saw them as aloof, overly religious and hive-minded, rather than focusing on individuality as an artist should. Growing up, although she was supported by her family, Kafral always felt the sense of being an outsider. This was exacerbated by the fact that she never really gravitated to any of the artistic schools; she enjoyed reading poetry, but not writing it, and some of her community made her feel that she had no right to be part of them or worship their Gods. Although she sometimes felt estranged even from her own community and family, her faith was her one safe port, as it were, which she refused to stop believing in. She began learning more about the law in an effort to have some skill or interest relevant to the Gods that her family worshipped. Around adolescence, tensions began to mount between her community and some of the other artists in that part of the city. The cause was fairly simple – funding for an architectural project at the university of arcane artistry – but it brought to light several of the differences between the Elves and the other artists. A wave of petty hate crimes escalated into vandalism and theft, ultimately causing Kafral's uncle, who she was particularly close to, to be imprisoned for a crime he did not commit. Witnesses from the other artists who opposed the community of Elves helped to cement his conviction, and in an attempt at a political marriage between the two communities, the Elven leader in the city managed to rally her people against Kafral's uncle in order to try and secure peace, glazing over the injustice with pragmatism. Kafral grew disgusted with the justice system of both the city and her people, and also with the egotistical self-indulgence of many of citizens, who she saw as living in a world where improvement of the self at the expense of one's peers was all-important, along with the need to impress and indulge to excess. She began to see some of these traits reflected in members of her own community when they were too afraid to support her uncle in his trial. After this she dedicated herself even more to the pursuit of law and justice, shunning and hunting down anyone who showed great selfishness or overindulgence. In her travels during the early years of the Second Age of Enlightenment, Kafral became entangled in a plot to defend the nation's border from the Khalivarian invaders – the affront to autonomy was so great that she was enlisted with a band of mercenaries to track down a chain of extremely powerful and ancient artefacts, the Ka'Kari. This journey took her through distant lands and many different scenarios, where her perceptions of injustice and the mortal nature grew and shaped. She began to realise that there was no end to the injustice in the world, and slowly started to believe that not only her Gods, but all Gods, had abandoned mortal life to its own devices. Slowly, she slipped from her staunch perception of justice and began to fall into a greater and greater life of debauchery and sin, harshly dispensing death sentences to anyone who got in the way of her skewed quest for freedom. Eventually, she disbanded from the party of mercenaries who, amazingly, had become too restrictive for her interests, and claimed she would seek out the final Ka'Kari, the Golden Ka'Kari, herself. Eventually, after seeking many false-leads, she found the shimmering Golden Ka'Kari embedded in the stone wall of a mausoleum, situated above the mouth of Hell itself. Taking it, it immediately bonded with her, accelerating her hate and despair into a self-sustaining magical growth, which scarred her body physically with vine-like dead skin. As a trade for her sanity, Kafral gained the ability to persuade people, dominating them with an incredible force of personality; a golden tongue. Mad with power, she sought out the Godsires and requested they ascend her, so that she may administer the justice her Gods never brought. In her ascension, she took the name Khali, naming herself after the empire that she thought treated the world the most honest way, the way it ought to be treated. Soon, she made her home there, and her very physical displays of power and very real presence inside the borders of the nation quickly gained her a cult following. Her most loyal subjects were blessed with the gift of the Vir, vine-like tattoos across the skin of their body which enhanced their magic by draining the power of the lower-down, none-gifted worshippers. With this devotion, Khali's power grew and grew, eventually shaping the empire into the nation it became – bloodthirsty, chaotic and cold. Her taint made nature itself die, and aberrations and snow began their slow creep across the lands, bringing famine, death and despair to all who did not already have the power to protect themselves. The Corynthian-Khalivarian War The Lycaantian-Lycadian War The Coronet of the Triumvirate The "Coronet of the Triumvirate" refers to the first time that a group of Ka'Kari wielders grouped together in an attempt to save the world. Read the full history here. The Evacuation of Sorinfolk 3rd Age Brentia Stitchers and the Church The Brothers War Elven Isolationism Canim Reconstruction Giovanni's Revolution Tension between the factions controlled by Voldar and the rest of humanity had always been great. With the human nation of Dominion torn apart by brutal civil war after the death of the last pope, Augustavus IV, a rough alliance of separatist factions saw to the downfall of the previous social structure. The Order of the Acorn, working with the Dwargen Rebellion and an emergent faction of seperatist Stichers lead by the doomed Vincent Prose conspired to enable the assassination of Augustavus IV and then took advantage of the following chaos to cement their territory. After the betrayal and death of Vincent Prose his apprentice Giovanni Lutesce took his place, rapidly assuming the mantle of control over not only his own faction, but the entire rebellion. While the rebellion was tremendously outmatched in terms of land and raw numbers, a slowly growing technological edge allowed them to hold on while Voldar forces lost more ground. What resulted was decades of back and forth conflict decided through a number of key factors. Firstly, the cutting off of the Voldarian supply lines with the liberation of Elysium and Khalivar, and the founding of the twin new nations of New Kendar and The Dwargen Collonies. With the highly productive eastern farmlands and northern resource mines now fuelling the Resistance's war efforts instead of Voldar's, Voldar was forced to rely increasingly upon their superior magical acumen and forces. A shift in strategy which increased Voldarian reliance on necromancy, the effects of which can still be seen in the modern day. The second major factor which broke the war was the resurgence, and later full on cessation of The Family. They claimed territories on the western parts of Dominion and promptly declared themselves to be a neutral party. Albeit one that would brutally eliminate any political interference or military push into their territory. With three human nations now in existence, no side felt confident enough to overcome both their enemies at once, so an uncertain stalemate was formed that would continue on into the modern day. 4th Age Brentia National Settlement In the wake of the ending of hostilities between the newly formed nations of Domus, Voldar, and Lysjord, Giovanni Lutese ensured the recognition and formal handover of land to the Kender and Dwarves to ensure their new countries' legitimacy, claiming only land that had been reclaimed from the Dominion itself for what of humanity had sided with him. The Canis-Majoris Split At the beginning of the Fourth Age, Canis was undergoing its own ideological schism, much like their more distant human neighbors. Tiamat's fractured soul had recovered enough to make a fairly major move, and sent the rebirth of Maevol Krakenskron once more. Not for war as on prior incarnations, but for reconcilliation. She offered to end the warring between her kind and Canim, and as a gesture of goodwill forced all dragons subservient to her to serve Canis as they had once served Dragonkind. The culture of Tiamat worship under large segements of Canim society was brought into the light, empowered both by freedom to do so openly and by her new gives. Tiamat having spent time immemorial mastering the Vir around her corpse, she severed The Dragonblood Pool from Qxm's influence, and gifted it to any who would serve her as her new priesthood. The former draconic lands of once Ryugu become her seat of worship, tension forming between Canin's emergent democracy and the slowly strengthening church. As state pushed for progress and a new way of life for Canis, Tiamat's spreading grip on the south preached embracing religion, technology and both their place in the castes. A new deal versus traditional Canim values, North versus South. Rulers and landowners began to declare one way or the other, lines drawn in the sand until Canis descended into civil war. Peace was only broken with the aid of the neutral external power of Giovanni's Lysjord. Canis was officially divided into Canis Major and Canifex. The Diluvian Invasion Seven Champions The Seven Champions are a group of time-travellers chosen by Giovanni de Monocuolo Lutesce, in an attempt to prevent the Diluvian Invasion from overwhelming the planet. These individuals became heroes in their own right, and quickly gained their independence from Giovanni, returning to the 4th Age in order to rid the planet of Brentia of Diluvians and, ultimately, attempt to end The Loop, wresting control from the Aeons. Each of the Seven Champions is a Kakarifer, and is an individual of extreme interest to the Order of Draconis. Possessing Free Will, and existing as entities across multiple loops, multiple versions of each member of the Seven have cropped up, but ultimately, the composition of this group remains the same. They are, in no particular order: * Redecia Lutesce * Klara Lutesce * Adric Dondarrion * Hrodvitnir "Warg" Linnormskron * Vanja Lykke * Tamuril Alba-Acerbi * Melek Taus Brentian Gods Kakaysia Goddess of the Sun, Patron of Sierra, and Daughter of Kakar, Kakaysia is a subtle influence on Brentia, but widely regarded by serious theologians to be the most important God on the planet. Terce Jale Damu Ezra Bolshe Tiamat Other Gods Brentian Races Brentia has a number of different playable sapient races: * Humans * Elves * Canim * Tengu * Dwarves * Kender * Gnomes * Kobolds